Timing, Training, and Teamwork: The Rescue of the 11-Year-Old at Big Lagoon [Video of Rescue]

Following our earlier reporting on the rescue of an 11-year-old girl swept out to sea at Big Lagoon State Park, new information paints a sweet picture of the coordinated multi-agency effort that brought her safely back to shore. The July 17 incident involved lifeguards, law enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, and beachgoers, all working hard under intense conditions to save the child’s life.

The girl, whose name has not been released, is believed to have been swept into the ocean from the beach and kept herself afloat in the cold water for what may have been more than 20 minutes. Conditions were treacherous, with an estimated 10-foot shore break and strong southward current pulling her toward Agate Beach. First, family members, then beach goers followed the girl on the beach tracking her and calling 911 for assistance.

At approximately 4:00 p.m., California State Parks received a call from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office requesting a rescue swimmer. One of the first responders to arrive was a ranger from Sue-meg State Park, who had also overheard the scanner traffic and rushed to the scene. He began walking the beach, gathering information from visitors and ultimately connecting with the girl’s family, who still had eyes on her offshore. He relayed her location to both the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and incoming rescue crews. According to Kevin Cather, State Park Peace Officer Supervisor out of the Trinidad area with California State Parks, he then relayed information “to our lifeguard, Hayden, so that he could park as close as possible to where he could then run out there and make water entry with as little delay as possible.—shaving off precious minutes in a situation where every second mattered.”

State Park Peace Officer Lifeguard Hayden McDaniel, based out of Trinidad, was on duty and already heading to the scene after overhearing the call on the scanner. He arrived quickly, stripped out of his uniform, changed into a wetsuit, and entered the ocean with fins and a rescue buoy around 4:25 p.m.

With the help of those on the beach, “he sees the girl. She is struggling to keep her head above water. It was about 75 yards offshore,” said Kevin Cather, State Park Peace Officer Supervisor out of the Trinidad area with California State Parks. He swam out to her. “As he described it,” Cather told us, “she kind of immediately just clambered onto his back and was very, very winded, having trouble keeping her head above water, so he didn’t immediately clip her to the rescue buoy.”

Cather said that McDaniel kept treading water with her hanging on to him “so that she could catch her breath and just kind of start to calm down.”

McDaniel talked to her to keep her from being more frightened. “He was just telling her that something to the effect of…it’s going to be okay. I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay,” Cather told us. “Eventually he was able to transition her to clipping that rescue buoy around her, so that she, in essence, had a flotation ring….She was just floating in the water, and able to kind of rest and relax, and basically get to get a chance to calm down and be okay.”

Rather than attempt to swim her back through the pounding surf, McDaniel decided it was safer to wait for a Coast Guard helicopter to hoist her out. Meanwhile, the girl’s companions and a State Parks ranger kept visual contact with her from shore and helped direct incoming rescuers.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1452732059252247

USCG Sector Humboldt Bay arrived minutes later, flying through heavy fog at just 150 feet. The crew jettisoned fuel to lighten the helicopter for hoisting and working together, the Coast Guard swimmer and McDaniel secured the girl in the rescue basket. She and the swimmer were lifted together and flown to the Big Lagoon parking lot, where she was transferred to Arcata Mad River Ambulance and reunited with her mother.

“It was the impression that…Hayden had when he made contact with her, that minutes would have made a big difference in whether or not, you know, this girl…survived. So, you know, time being of the essence. It’s just, it’s awesome that we have this resource now,” said Cather.

“[This rescue was] about as perfect of a coordinated thing as we could have, and luckily, it had a really good outcome as a result,” Cather said. Every second mattered, and the coordination between the Coast Guard, State Parks, Sheriff’s Office, Fire, EMS, and even regular folks on the beach played a role in saving this child’s life.

The girl’s current condition has not been officially released, but she was alert and apparently doing well at the time of transfer to medical services.

Cather noted that the Lifeguard program in the North Coast Redwoods District has only been in place since 2016. He told us that situations like the young girl in the ocean are the very reason we have lifeguards here now–to give people a fighting chance in these exact situations.

The cause of the girl’s entry into the ocean remains unclear, though officials believe she was not planning to swim and was likely swept in by the powerful surf. An ordinary afternoon at the beach can quickly turn dangerous on California’s North Coast—but when trained responders and coordinated agencies are ready, they can make the difference between life and death.

Earlier:

• Emergency Response Continues at Big Lagoon Following Report of 11-Year-Old in the Water
• Coast Guard Provides Details on Rescue of 11-Year-Old Girl from Surf at Big Lagoon